Critical Response

Jeffrey Folks in his article The Science Is Settled: Fracking Is Safe, which
was published to American Thinker on September 2014, with regards to
groundwater pollution, claims that fracking is safe. According to him,
problems with water caused by fracking are manageable and water is
mainly being polluted naturally anyway, so pollution caused by fracking is
trivial. Although fracking seems safe using Folks information, Andrew
Nikiforuk in his article US Federal Report Confirms Water Pollution by
Fracking, share evidence that the opposite is actually happening.

Folks states that in agreement with the EPA study, he is able to conclude
that fracking is safe, while in reality, the research is limited and not worthy
to be used for such a claim. More specifically, the problem with the EPA
study[] is that it doesn't include state enforcement data as well as
[studies and agency data that are highly relevant to the impacts of
hydraulic fracturing activities on drinking water resources] (Nikiforuk, par.
29), Nikiforuk writes, which is a huge weakness. False assumptions are
also made by the agency, as it did not find mechanisms have led to
widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United
States" (Nikiforuk, par. 13), when one fourth of water wells in northeastern
Pennsylvania are contaminated by fracking.

In addition to that, Folks also argues that in the rare cases where it
occurs, gases are entering the water supply from outside the borehead as
a result of faulty well construction or poor cementing, both of which are
manageable problems ( Folks, par.3), but as Nikiforuk writes, wells can
also be contaminated from operations above the ground as they spill
hydraulic fracturing fluids, chemicals and salty wastewater into ground
and surface waters (Nikiforuk, par.11). Hundreds of problems about
groundwater contamination due to fracking have also been reported in
states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, in consonance with Nikiforuk, so
that is not a rare event.

Another claim, Folks makes, is that most of the water is pollute naturally
and that humans add minor emission to it, however The EPA qualified its
central finding -- that water contamination is real but not severe -- by
explaining that its investigation was hampered by significant scientific
gaps, including insufficient baseline data on quality of drinking water
resources prior to fracking; poor or non-existent groundwater monitoring;
and in some cases inaccessible data on well locations, as well as
chemicals used by industry ( Nikiforuk, par.16) making Folks claim,
pretty much unfounded.

Briefly, in line with both Folks and Nikiforuks articles about water
contamination due to fracking, it seems that Nikiforuk has facts by his
side, verifying that fracking is not as safe, as it is represented to be.

Folks, Jeffrey. "The Science Is Settled: Fracking Is Safe." American Thinker.

American Thinker, 21 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Nikiforuk, Andrew. "US Federal Report Confirms Water Pollution by

Fracking." The Tyee. The Tyee, 8 June 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Kostas Kouimtzis. About 480 words